PROVIDENCE, R.I. - A Superior Court judge issued a preliminary
injunction Wednesday preventing the town of Smithfield from enforcing
a recent amendment to its zoning ordinance that restricted the
cultivation and distribution of medical marijuana.

In his decision, Superior Court Associate Justice Richard A. Licht
questioned whether local communities had the power to regulate
"small-scale" medical marijuana cultivation under its zoning
authority, which traditionally has been used to determine land use.

In April, the Smithfield Town Council passed an ordinance that limits
licensed medical marijuana patients to two mature plants and two
seedlings, and only at a patient's primary residence. Rhode Island law
specifically allows for the cultivation of 12 mature plants and
outlines where medical marijuana can be grown.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A federal anti-drug program has asked Rhode Island
- -- and more than two dozen other states where medical marijuana is
legal -- to turn over data about patients in the program.

The move has alarmed some who question why the federal government,
which has at times appeared to be antagonistic towards the drug, is
interested in the information.

The National Marijuana Initiative, an arm of the High Intensity Drug
Trafficking Area program, which reports to the White House, contacted
the Rhode Island Department of Health in August seeking data from 2012
to 2016 on the number of patients in the program, as well as patients'
age, gender and a breakdown of the medical conditions under which they
qualified.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - After three defendants fatally overdosed in a
single week last year, it became clear that Buffalo's ordinary drug
treatment court was no match for the heroin and painkiller crisis.

Now the city is experimenting with the nation's first opioid crisis
intervention court, which can get users into treatment within hours of
their arrest instead of days, requires them to check in with a judge
every day for a month instead of once a week, and puts them on strict
curfews. Administering justice takes a back seat to the overarching
goal of simply keeping defendants alive.

Researchers found an 11 percent reduction in traffic fatalities on average
when examining places that have enacted medical marijuana laws -- 23
states (including Rhode Island) and the District of Columbia. By Fredrick
Kunkle, The Washington Post

States with medical marijuana laws have fewer traffic fatalities than
those without, especially among younger drivers, a new study found.

You would think crash rates might be higher, supposing that more drivers
are, too - especially around midnight, when a run to a 7-Eleven becomes
necessary.

PROVIDENCE ( AP) - The Narragansett Indian Tribe would be able to
grow hemp in Rhode Island under a new bill proposed in the state's
General Assembly.

Rep. Helio Melo, an East Providence Democrat, introduced the
legislation on Thursday.

The bill says the tribe historically used hemp products for clothing
and housing and wants to use it again as a business opportunity. The
bill would also allow universities to grow hemp for research or
educational purposes.

The National Conference of State Legislatures says at least 28 states
have laws in place related to industrial hemp.

It's legal to import hemp from abroad, but federal law only allows
cultivation of hemp as a research project by states and universities.

Industrial hemp is related to marijuana but has a lower concentration
of the drug's mind-altering ingredient.

Gov. Gina Raimondo has unveiled a smart, multipronged plan to attack
the drug-overdose deaths afflicting Rhode Island. Her comprehensive
approach leaves few aspects of this public health emergency
unaddressed and, if appropriate funding is forthcoming, should help to
slow what has become a devastating loss of lives.

The governor has proposed spending $4 million in the next fiscal year
to curb the misuse of opioids. A prime focus would be the use of
medication-assisted treatment to help wean users off more dangerous
drugs. Ms. Raimondo's "Strategic Action Plan" also calls for doubling
the number of certified peer-recovery specialists, who are trained to
intervene in a crisis and help steer drug users toward treatment.

PROVIDENCE (AP) - Rhode Island's Roman Catholic bishop said he wants
to smell holy incense, not cannabis, in Providence's cathedral and
warned state lawmakers against transporting young people to "the land
of oblivion" by legalizing marijuana.

Bishop Thomas Tobin shared his opinions in an essay titled "Nope to
Dope." The essay was published on a diocesan website Tuesday, just
hours before a hearing on a bill to legalize pot.

Tobin said he's heard about "zombie-like" people who are "completely
stoned" filling public places in Colorado, where marijuana is legal.
He said young people already addicted to electronic devices and
"attached to their virtual umbilical cords" would become more
detached from society if the drug were legal. He said he was
disturbed by a recent report of a woman smoking pot in the back of a
cathedral during a morning service.

The increasing speculation that Rhode Island will further ease
restrictions on the use of marijuana had area prevention coalitions
raising a flag of caution at a recent Town Hall Meeting, hosted on
the campus of Amica Insurance, to talk about how those changes could
affect young people.

The forum on marijuana focused on how the drug affects adolescents
and the developing teenage brain with the help of Dr. Lilia
RomeroBosch, a psychiatrist, and also presented information on
existing trends in drug use among teens from Margaret Johnson, a
student assistance counselor for the Warwick school department. There
was also a youth panel of students who gave first-hand accounts of
what is happening in their schools in North Smithfield, Lincoln,
Cumberland, Woonsocket and Scituate. The discussion was moderated by
Nancy Denuccio, chairwoman of the Ocean State Prevention Alliance.
Romero-Bosch related her experiences in counseling family members
with substance abuse problems, and her experiences with patients who
are trying to quit substance abuse while also participating in
marijuana production.

Howard Marks, a Welsh-born, Oxford-trained drug smuggler who for
years ran a globe-spanning marijuana ring, enraging officials and
entertaining the public on both sides of the Atlantic as a
countercultural scofflaw, died April 10. He was 70.

Mr. Marks revealed last year that he had inoperable bowel cancer, and
his death was announced by Pan Macmillan, the publisher Mr. Smiley:
My of his most recent book, Last Pill and Testament (2015). Other
details were not immediately available.

Once described as "sounding like Richard Burton and looking like a
Rolling Stone," Mr. Marks achieved celebrity and notoriety in a life
that took him from a mining village to the University of Oxford, to
prison, and finally to bestsellerdom with the release of his memoir
Mr. Nice (1996).

PROVIDENCE - Amid signs that the political climate for legalizing
marijuana is growing increasingly friendly, officials in charge of
the new regulatory machinery in Colorado and Washington State have
some cautionary words of advice: Look before you leap.

Marley Bardovsky, the assistant director of prosecution for the
Denver City Attorney's Office, and Darwin Roberts, deputy attorney
general for Washington State, were among a panel of experts who spoke
Tuesday at a forum on legalization at the Brown University Medical Center.

PROVIDENCE (AP) - Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Kilmartin is
hosting a forum on marijuana regulation and policy that will focus on
learning from states that have legalized the drug.

Tuesday's forum at Brown University will include speakers from the
marijuana industry group the Coalition for Responsible Cannabis Production.

Representatives from states where marijuana is legal will also speak,
including a representative from the city of Denver, another from the
Washington attorney general's office, and a researcher from the
Washington State Institute on Public Policy.

Providence (AP) - Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Kilmartin is
hosting a forum on marijuana regulation and policy that will focus on
learning from states that have legalized the drug.

Tuesday's forum at Brown University will include speakers from the
marijuana industry group the Coalition for Responsible Cannabis Production.

Representatives from states where marijuana is legal will also speak,
including a representative from the city of Denver, another from the
Washington attorney general's office and a researcher from the
Washington State Institute on Public Policy.

Uxbridge Community Leaders Collaborate on Solutions As Mass. Battles Addiction

UXBRIDGE - If there was an overriding message from Uxbridge's
community forum on opioid addiction it would be: "We are all in this together."

"None of us has the total answer. A total collaboration across the
board - that's where the answers will be," said Craig Maxim, program
director of Family Continuity, a mental health provider and head of
the Northbridge Coalition.

Maxim was one of several panelists at the forum hosted by the
Uxbridge Coalition for a Community of Caring. The panel included
representatives from the medical community, state legislators, the
district attorney's office, the police and fire departments, schools
and support groups.

One reason to re-legalize cannabis (marijuana) that doesn't get
mentioned, "Rhode Island Senate Majority Leader Signs on to Legalize
Marijuana," (Feb. 21), is because it may lower hard-drug addiction
rates. That list includes opioids, which have been in news in The Day a
lot recently.

Selling cannabis in a regulated market removes sales from people who may
also sell hard drugs. Some citizens who legitimately use opioids for
medical conditions may choose cannabis, if it is available over the
counter, like in Colorado. That could lower hard drug addiction rates.

Providence (AP) - A push to legalize recreational marijuana in Rhode
Island has won the support of a top lawmaker.

Senate Majority Leader Dominick Ruggerio, a North Providence
Democrat, has signed on as co-sponsor of a bill to treat marijuana
like alcohol by legalizing, regulating and taxing it.

"It is an important conversation to have," Ruggerio said in a
statement. "I have listened to the debate regarding legalization of
marijuana over the years and watched the experience in states such as
Colorado," which legalized the commercial sale of the drug.